The Numbers properties page allows users to select amongst several options.
Decimal-Point Precision
If the "Decimal-Point Precision" item is not checked, the input box as well as the "Scientific Notation" item will be greyed out. The calculated output will show all available digits following the decimal point. If the "Decimal-Point Precision" item is checked the calculated output will limit the maximum number of digits following the decimal point.
No. of digits after decimal
The "No. of digits after decimal" item limits the maximum number of digits appearing after the decimal.
Warning: If the value is very small, it will be truncated to zero!
Digit grouping symbol
The "Digit grouping symbol" item allows users to select a different symbol to group digits to the left of the decimal point so that large numbers are easier to read.
Digit grouping
The "Digit grouping" item allows users to select a different group of digits to be used to the left of the decimal point.
Negative sign symbol
The "Negative sign symbol" item allows users to select a different symbol for negative numbers.
Negative number format
The "Negative number format" item allows users to select a different format for negative numbers.
Display leading zeros
The "Display leading zeros" item allows users to select whether a zero is to be displayed before the decimal of a number less than one and greater than negative one.
Significant digits
The "Significant digits" item limits the maximum number of significant digits to the value entered in the input box.
Significant figures (also called significant digits and abbreviated sig figs or sig digs, respectively) is a method of expressing errors in measurements. The term is also sometimes used to describe some rules-of-thumb, known as Significance arithmetic, which attempt to indicate the propagation of errors in a scientific experiment or in statistics when perfect accuracy is not attainable or not required. Scientific notation is often used when expressing the significant figures in a number.
The concept of significant figures is derived from the method of measuring a value so that the smallest accurately known decimal place is next to last and only one further is estimated; for example, if an object is measured with a ruler that is marked in millimeters and is known to be between six and seven millimeters and appears to the measurer to be approximately two-thirds of the way between them, an acceptable measurement for it could be 6.6 mm or 6.7 mm, but not 6.666666... mm. This rule based upon the principle of not implying more precision than can be justified when measurements are taken in this manner.
For example,
1.2345
0012345
0.00012345
all have five significant digits.
Conventionally, a number with value zero is considered to have one significant digit. (Excerpted from Wikipedia)
Offset
If the "Offset" item is greater than or less than zero, the calculated value will be based on the adjusted input value, not the value entered. The adjusted input value is the offset subtracted from the input entered.
| Offset = 0.0 | Offset = 0.1 | Offset = 0.0 |
| Input = 1 | Input = 1 | Input = 0.9 |
| Scaled Input = 1 | Scaled Input = 0.9 | Scaled Input = 0.9 |
| Output = 10 | Output = 9 | Output = 9 |
Scientific Notation
If the "Scientific Notation" item is not checked, the calculated value will only display the exponent if necessary. If the "Scientific Notation" item is checked, the calculated value will always display the exponent. For example, 12345.6789 will be displayed as 1.23456789e004
"e" Introduces Exponent
"E" Introduces Exponent
In mathematics, exponentiation is a process generalized from repeated multiplication, in much the same way that multiplication is a process generalized from repeated addition. (The next operation after exponentiation is sometimes called tetration; repeating this process leads to the Ackermann function.)
Powers of 10 are easy to compute: for example 106 = 1 million, which is 1 followed by 6 zeros. Exponentiation with base 10 is often used in the physical sciences to describe large or small numbers in scientific notation; for example, 299792458 (the speed of light in a vaccuum, in meters per second) can be written as 2.99792458 × 108 and then approximated as 2.998 × 108 if this is useful. SI prefixes are also used to describe small or large quantities, and these are also based on powers of 10; for example, the prefix kilo means 103 = 1000, so a kilometre is 1000 metres. (Excerpted from Wikipedia)